National Airlines grounded in St. John’s until outstanding fees are paid

National Airlines grounded in St. John’s until outstanding fees are paid

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A commercial National Airlines jet has been grounded at the international airport in St. John’s, N.L. under a court order preventing take off until the airline takes care of the payments it owes the airport authority.

St. John’s International Airport Authority issued a statement on Sunday saying the Boeing 757 aircraft has been sitting idle since Friday and will not leave until the operator pays its outstanding fees.

The authority also said it “exhausted all avenues” to collect the payments before turning to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador for a court order.

CBC reports that the plane landed in St. John’s at 6:28 p.m. on Friday, inbound from Orlando. But the scheduled return flight to Florida was cancelled, with passengers unable to rebook on the discount airline. They were either booked on another flight or reimbursed for the full cost of their ticket.

By Sunday afternoon, a notice on the airline’s website stated: “We regret to inform you that we are cancelling several flights in November and December and have decided to not extend our service to St. John’s beyond Jan. 6, 2017.”

National Airlines has offered a direct flight from St. John’s to Orlando since January, and initially held a partnership with Provincial Airlines, which ended in the spring.

With file from The Canadian Press

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